I have been waiting years for someone to write a book covering the period of Steele's campaign to capture Little Rock in 1863. As advertised by the author/publisher, The Division is a very, very detailed book. It is easy to follow the action, because the author(s) have included maps for just about every phase of the campaign, and several for each battle. Each section heading is also preceded by the date and time in which the action occurred, also very helpful. Some very nice artwork is included in the book along with rare photos of some of the main characters. This book is definitely directed toward the hard-core Civil War combat reader and especially toward the often neglected Trans-Mississippi theater enthusiast. The coverage of the fighting is thorough in every regard, with maps and battle descriptions portraying fighting at regimental level and below--a real treat! But there are some negatives. First of all, the binding/printing/paper are embarassingly cheap. One can only hope the whole thing does not fall apart after a few readings. I was disappointed in the extreme that such a fine book was presented so poorly. Also, it is difficult to read the fine print in many of the maps. Though the writing overall was of a fine quality, some of the descriptive passages were laughably overblown and melodramatic--it was almost as if the authors had just finished a course in creative writing and were overeager to show their stuff. Though placed within the context of the book as a whole, this was a mild irritant. Though a level of artistic license that would be greatly frowned upon by academic historians was taken in many instances, the work is also heavily footnoted. One the other hand, the bibliography was very small for a book created from 15 years of research. Additionally, the story is told primarily from the Confederate side. It would have been nice if there was more balance. But, as this is the only book that covers this neglected Civil War campaign, it is a must buy for the dedicated Trans-Miss. historian or CW buff. I would have given it 4-stars if it wasn't for the terrible binding and the occasionally odd writing style quirks.

Great story for young children. It really gets the moral across to children. Great illustrations.

I have read so many books on Elvis, that I found this book to be a compliation of information already obtained from other authors. This book is strictly for the "beginner", looking to amuse themself with tidbits of unrelated information. Therefore, if you have been a reader of several books on Elvis already, don't waste your money here, for you have already come across this information.